After starting Totem in Ubuntu 12.10 (playing an .MTS file), it starts out playing just fine, but after about 3 seconds the sound goes away. No clue at all what is happening. .MPG files play just fine.

The videos play just fine, with sound, in VLC.

EDIT: Pausing the video and then starting again brings sound back for about one second, and then the sound fades again.

Do you have ubuntu-restricted-extras installed?
–
Seth♦Dec 11 '12 at 16:42

I do, of course. In fact, today something funny happened: I reverted back to Ubuntu 12.04 (12.10 was really giving me too much trouble). In 12.04 Totem had sound, just fine, as well as VLC. On the other hand, gxine experienced the same problem as Totem on 12.10 (i.e. sound was fading after a few seconds); however, on 12.10, gxine played fine! I think something funny is happening with audio channels. Somehow after playing the video for a few seconds, I guess some channels are muted (but pausing and starting the video again, the sound plays for two seconds again, then fades).
–
WilliamDec 13 '12 at 6:08

Also, in 12.04, Totem videos are jagged, but gxine and VLC play them smoothly (so that Totem's behavior can't be due to driver issues). However, on 12.10, minus the sound problem, Totem had even better performance on HD videos than VLC or gxine (deinterlacing worked beautifully).
–
WilliamDec 13 '12 at 6:09

1 Answer
1

Apparently this is due to Totem not using the correct driver/hardware (somehow that changes without notice). By setting the correct channel in the control center, everything works fine. This is strange, since youtube videos would use the correct channel, while Totem would switch to an incorrect one.